Edinburgh’s TAGS Fest – the Tabletop and Graphic Storytelling Festival – returned to the Fruitmarket this weekend. It’s a must-visit for any fan of indie role-playing games (TTRPGs), graphic novels, and comics. This is a vital celebration of the small press, bringing together a vast array of talent under one roof.
A Celebration of Small Press
The “indie” label is crucial here. We aren’t talking about mainstream giants like Dungeons & Dragons. TAGS Fest is all about the small press publishers, the creators who often have a day job (or two) and produce their games and comics as a true labour of love.
This is the heart of the festival: people publishing their work as a passion, often after working one or two other jobs.
Perhaps the most prominent game on display was Carved in Stone, a TTRPG focusing on Scotland’s Pictish heritage. It was launched via Kickstarter in 2021 by Dungeons on a Dime, a company now impressively rebranded as Stout Stoat Press (whose director, Brian Tyrrell, co-organises the festival).
Other highlights included co-organiser Eve Greenwood’s Quindrie Press, the Glasgow-based publisher Lost Pages, and talents like Amy Lockwood, Stephen Fraser, Will Tempest, and Broken Engine Comics, showcasing the sheer breadth of creativity.
It was also great to see La Belle Aventure, the fantastic shop from Leith Walk that brings the best of French graphic novels and comics to Edinburgh, who were also present and hosting panels.
More Than a Market
The Fruitmarket is hosting TAGS Fest again, and it’s a “fantastic location.” It’s central, easy to get to, and the space itself is light and airy. The layout comfortably accommodated over 50 stalls, and the downstairs cafe is exactly what you need for a quick top-up.
But TAGS Fest isn’t just a market. This year featured a dedicated Board Game Zone curated by Ancient Robot Games, alongside a full weekend schedule of talks and panels. This transforms it from a simple shopping trip into a proper community event.
With creators travelling from England and all over Scotland, the festival’s weekend-long run felt entirely appropriate. You could get a good dose of the festival in “an hour and a bit” just whizzing through the stalls, but with the added games and talks, it was wise to set aside a full afternoon.
Overall
For fellow geeks, TAGS Fest is more than worth your time. With such a high calibre of local and independent talent on display, it’s “almost sinful not to go” and offer your support. It’s hard to visit as a comic or RPG fan without buying something. This is a festival worth supporting, and one we hope to see return for many years.
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